Headed out to Trail Creek in Mich. City yesterday and today morning. The steelhead are in there but not in large numbers. Seen some fish caught, all on shrimp. Tried throwing mepps in some of the holes to no avail.What I did hear is that the harbor by the DNR in Mich City is holding some steelhead; they are staging, it seems, but are not going into the creek.

You can catch them from mid may on if you know where to look and when, but not many are heading up the creeks when we have a month straight of 90*days. Check the logs on the ladders on the St Joe and you'll see a lot of them dont head up till september. Anything that ran up early is most likely to be in a freezer, a turd, or dead. Summer steelhead are only gonna be around when conditions are right, they're not spawning till spring so they arent like salmon that have to run no matter how warm it is. Given the number of steelhead being reported by trollers, Id say "staging" is a good way to describe the run.

Technically the fish you are looking for are "Scamania". They are not the normal winter "Steelhead". The Scamania are supposed to run in July but this year has been a bust. Steelhead start to run in the fall. Michigan has stopped stocking Scamania in some streams because they are like ten times harder to catch than a steelhead. See the link for the article.

A lot of people just quit fishing for the Scamania. The catch rate is 15 to 2 Steelhead over Scamania. My friends and I put in four trips this year to the Trail and we got NADA to show for it. It's not like we are beginners at this either. Simply put, the Scamania is tough unpredictable fishing. Even when you think conditions are perfect they might not be there or wont bite. Yeah we used all the right baits, shrimp, spawn, power eggs, vibrax, oslo's etc etc and we hit hole after hole after hole. I am pretty sure we coverd them all. NADA. It's kinda like Musky fishing, your gonna pay some serious dues for a hook up. Yes, I saw a few on the stringer, but very few, no one had more than one. Last but not least hunting scams requires lots and lots of DEET or your gonna come home a quart low.

Come on guys! that's why it's called fishing not catching. I agree with the mosquito thoughts though. If one pays their dues and learns the layout and patterns of the fish they are very catchable. yes, you will have skunk days but that's fishing.. on the other hand we have had limit days that will long be remebered. With steelhead fishing you need to be mobile and ready to move and not sit on one spot all day, this holds esp. true for skamania. either way Skamania are very catchable but you have to work, there were days I went through 5-6 lure changes until I even got a bump but part of the love and passion of steelhead fishign is just being out there in the chase. oh, and we always started fishing early and not waitign for July, have caught a fair amount of fish may/june.

If you are going to brave the Indiana Creeks in the summer...I recommend you purchase a can of a Sawyer's permethrin clothing spray. Follow the directions...you'll have to do it a day in advance so that the it can dry into your clothes. Socks, hat, vest if you have it...soak it all. Lightweight pants and a long sleeve shirt are key in this mosquito and no-see-um shangri-la.

_____________________________________Give a man a fish and he can eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he will spend all of his money on gear & tackle.

It's not just me saying it's tough this year, it's tougher than usual, there are a lot of sorry looking faces on that creek this year. Some boaters say they are still stacked up outside the harbor. I just don't know when they are going to come in for a while. We are seeing very few in the creek and we are very, very mobile and run with two rods, one for bait and one for lures. With two of us thats four baits, A veritable cornacopia of delectible delights, ah yes. Oh well like you say Bear, "That's fihsing", but it's tough fishing. I am sure this dog will have his day.

Technically the fish you are looking for are "Scamania". They are not the normal winter "Steelhead". The Scamania are supposed to run in July but this year has been a bust. Steelhead start to run in the fall. Michigan has stopped stocking Scamania in some streams because they are like ten times harder to catch than a steelhead. See the link for the article.

A lot of people just quit fishing for the Scamania. The catch rate is 15 to 2 Steelhead over Scamania. My friends and I put in four trips this year to the Trail and we got NADA to show for it. It's not like we are beginners at this either. Simply put, the Scamania is tough unpredictable fishing. Even when you think conditions are perfect they might not be there or wont bite. Yeah we used all the right baits, shrimp, spawn, power eggs, vibrax, oslo's etc etc and we hit hole after hole after hole. I am pretty sure we coverd them all. NADA. It's kinda like Musky fishing, your gonna pay some serious dues for a hook up. Yes, I saw a few on the stringer, but very few, no one had more than one. Last but not least hunting scams requires lots and lots of DEET or your gonna come home a quart low.

Trout are one of the hardest fish to catch in a river/creek! PERIOD! Even a small line change to light line can trigger a response. You need to hunt for them. Ever center pin? That will increase your chances as you can get away with smaller line . Steelhead can spawn various times of the year. Either early, summer (skamania), or late fall. Spring is the biggest of the spawning for Steelhead/Rainbo's. They will travel in the river in fall and feed. Feed on spawn. They will stay in the river/creek all winter. After they spawn they will move out into the lake.

On another note, there is less food to go around in the winter! But the biologists do not say that!

_________________If you don't like the truth, hell just make something up.

The Skamainia is a fish that needs to be continued. For anglers with access only to the shore, this fish provides a great option. The Skamainia is in a category all by itself. The fight and strength is like hooking into a lightening bolt. Agree with Southshore that the run is basically a staging run, follow them into the overgrown creeks if you dare. They are there, but hide well. It is still fishing, but not impossible. And very good days can be had. Being observant of others having success and being on the water often can lead to valuable knowledge in catching these fun fish.

My wedding is in three weeks in Hood River Oregon, which is a few miles down the Columbia from the Skamania hatchery. My dad and I have a charter booked on 8/17 to hopefully nail some REAL skams in their native land. I'll try to smuggle a few smolt back for you guys!

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